Anwar: Govt to consider shorter hours for women civil servants in review

 

The study on the Civil Service Remuneration System being drawn up is to also consider shorter working hours for women employees to enable them to better care for their families.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said this flexibility might involve different pay rates.

“I will discuss with the chief secretary to the government and the director-general of the public service to provide flexibility even with slightly lower salaries.

“For example, instead of the usual working hours from 8am to 5pm, if they work for maybe four hours, the pay rate might be lower, but we can utilise women who feel pressured to take care of their children at home,” he said.

He said this during his speech at the International Women’s Day Celebration 2024 in Petaling Jaya last night.

Also present at the celebration were his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Nancy Shukri, her deputy Noraini Ahmad, and cabinet members.

Commenting further, Anwar, who is also finance minister, said Malaysia would become the first country in the world to provide such flexibility to female civil servants if it could be realised.

According to Anwar, this requires a change from conventional thinking as there are women who have to leave their careers to take care of their families.

“We make the rules and SOPs (standard operating procedures) and if we feel the need to enhance the contribution of women, we can adjust these rules and SOPs slightly,” he said.

To recognise the role of women, Anwar also instructed Nancy to select 100 female figures from various fields to receive a special fund of RM50,000 each to conduct programmes related to this group.

“With this special fund, they can utilise it to organise activities or groups that are not necessarily tied to a party or association, using this fund to find ways or channels to enhance women's activities,” he said.

The prime minister said he would consider increasing participation and funding if the programmes conducted prove successful in enhancing the role of women in society.

Meanwhile, he said the remuneration system, aimed at increasing the salary rates of civil servants, is in its final stages, and the results of the study will be announced towards the end of this year.

It has been 10 years since the salary rates of civil servants were reviewed.

- Bernama